Real Wedding

Canada Elopement: Zack & Shawn

At first they were planning on a wedding with guests and a reception, but ”after about a month the logistics were sapping the joy out of what would have been a great day,” Zack said. Trying to get families from two countries and friends from all over the world to come together was getting difficult, so the two men decided to forego the party and celebrate just the two of them.

“We decided on Abigail’s Hotel because they were so friendly, nice and were very responsive to our needs,” Zack explained.

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The grooms met when Zack was in Vancouver for work. One evening, after a tedious work function, he went out alone to see the city. Serendipitously, he met Shawn. They hit it off straight away, and met for lunch the following day (Zack skipped work). They stayed in touch, and the following month Shawn travelled to Philadelphia to visit Zack and be his date at a wedding. A relationship blossomed, and they spent the next year and half flying back and forth. Now that they’re married, they’ve settled in Philadelphia.

“We both admit that neither of us remembers a lot of the ceremony because we were both so nervous – funny, since it was just us,” Zack said of their Canada elopement. His favorite memory is from later in the day, after the officiant and hotel staff had left. “We went to a romantic dinner at a quiet romantic restaurant and I realized, for the first time, that I was sitting with my husband,” he said. “I would have done it no differently. The wedding was just for the two of us and that was priceless.”

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Denise Oliveira is a Brooklyn-based writer. She has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York City and is the founder of Prequels, where she interviews engaged couples to create wedding invitations and favors that incorporate their love story.